This invention relates to the assemblage, storage, and distribution of computerized medical records and advance directives. The possibility of emergencies, especially medical emergencies, is normally discussed within the family circle. Rules are set about what treatments to pursue or what to avoid, what lifestyle to lead and what behaviors to stay away from. However, having arrived at decisions on how to deal with these emergencies, implementation of a plan is often impeded because medical information and directives are dispersed and inaccessible. Also, individuals generally do not have the experience required to ensure that their decisions are able to withstand the pressures of urgency, institutional policy, conflicting family member opinions, information transmission difficulties, the attitudes of treating physicians, language discrepancies, and the governmental rules in effect where the emergency happens.
When medical information is collected and advance directives are in place, there is no guarantee that the information will be communicated to, available to, or honored by physicians. There are no requirements that doctors inquire or be informed about decisions made by participants concerning care at the end of life. Doctors may distrust a document that purports to dictate the best course to follow in the inherently complex world of medical care at the end of life. They may have found the documents they have examined previously to be too narrow or drafted for a location having different legal requirements for such documents. They may have been furnished with ambiguous or unreadable documents on prior occasions. The original document may be unavailable and they may be distrustful of copies, fearing the original may have been revoked.
Even when directives are communicated and honored, the lack of accessible and centralized medical information may contribute to errors in implementation of directives and in the provision of medical care. Medication-related errors occur frequently in hospitals and, although not all result in actual harm, those that do, are costly. The cause of many preventable errors can be traced to faulty systems.
When advance directives are duly carried out, their effectiveness is limited by the quality of the information underlying an individual's contingency planning. Although a contingency medical plan is a personal matter, it should be developed in the light of specialized knowledge that is generally inaccessible to lay persons because of the prohibitive costs associated with consulting medical specialists. There is presently no way for an individual to bring the benefit of advanced studies into his personal plan for care in anticipation of an illness or injury. Similarly, there is a need to provide individuals with the ability to make choices about emergency and end of life planning that are informed by knowledge of the best protocols available to medical personnel.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide individuals with the ability to be fully prepared for medical emergencies and medical care at the end of their lives.
It would also be desirable to provide individuals with the ability to formulate contingency plans and advance directives that address the problems that arise due to the urgency surrounding implementation of a plan under critical conditions, institutional resistance, conflicting family member opinions, information transmission difficulties, the attitudes of treating physicians, language discrepancies, and the governmental rules in effect where the emergency happens.
Additionally, it would be desirable to provide individuals with contingency plans and advance directives that will be communicated to, available to, and honored by physicians.
It would be further desirable to provide individuals with contingency plans and advance directives that have reduced errors.
Moreover, it would be desirable to provide individuals with the ability to formulate contingency plans and advance directives that are informed by advanced medical knowledge.